- Asked by: Donald Cameron, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 14 December 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by George Adam on 12 January 2023
To ask the Scottish Government what steps it has taken to prevent its social media accounts from being hacked.
Answer
The Scottish Government has robust security policies and procedures in place, with training and guidance available for all staff to help them understand their security responsibilities. Steps include adhering to best practice in password management and using features such as two-factor authentication which is available on most social media platforms. The Scottish Government is not responsible for the cyber defence of the platforms themselves, but we refer to the UK Government’s SAFE Framework which outlines a set of standards for digital brand safety and includes the requirement for platforms to commit to cybersecurity.
- Asked by: Donald Cameron, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 14 December 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by George Adam on 12 January 2023
To ask the Scottish Government how many of its civil servants have responsibility for uploading content to its social media platforms.
Answer
The Scottish Government runs a number of accounts on social media platforms. Responsibility for uploading content to these accounts lies with the teams who manage those accounts. There are currently four social media managers with specific responsibility for uploading content to the Scottish Government’s primary social media platforms. An additional 112 Communications staff have access to carry out this task as part of their wider role and responsibilities. Outside of the Communications Division this task could form a part of many other roles and is not formally captured or recorded .
- Asked by: Donald Cameron, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 14 December 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by George Adam on 12 January 2023
To ask the Scottish Government how many times its social media accounts have been (a) successfully and (b) unsuccessfully hacked since they were established.
Answer
The Scottish Government does not have access to information about cyber security incidents affecting social media platforms, except where they have been publicly disclosed by the platforms themselves. We refer to the UK Government’s SAFE Framework which outlines a set of standards for digital brand safety and includes the requirement for platforms to commit to cybersecurity. We hold no record of Scottish Government accounts on social media platforms being compromised as a result of hacking.
- Asked by: Donald Cameron, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 14 December 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by George Adam on 12 January 2023
To ask the Scottish Government whether any (a) ministers and (b) officials have met with Meta regarding its so-called metaverse.
Answer
The Scottish Government's Communications Division has not had any meetings with Meta on this topic.
Information on Ministerial engagements is routinely published on the Scottish Government website and can be found at: www.gov.scot/collections/ministerial-engagements-travel-and-gifts/ .
Information on Ministerial engagements prior to May 2016 can be found at: https://www.webarchive.org.uk/wayback/archive/20170401123936/http:/www.gov.scot/About/People/14944/Events-Engagements/MinisterialEngagements .
- Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Friday, 16 December 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Maree Todd on 12 January 2023
To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the reported warning by the charity, Feed, that babies are at risk of malnutrition and being underfed as families in poverty are struggling to afford formula milk, or access it at foodbanks due to policies that restrict redistribution.
Answer
We are deeply concerned about these reports. The only nutrition suitable for babies under 6 months is breastmilk or first stage formula milk.
Parents should be advised to speak to a health professional for further advice and support for breastfeeding or safe formula feeding, and can be directed to their local authority for crisis funding in an emergency. Food banks are not a safe, secure or sustainable route to accessing infant formula milk.
We continue to work with partners to ensure that our financial supports, such as Best Start Foods, Best Start Grants and the Scottish Child Payment, are maximising the support available for families to live dignified lives and meet their basic needs. It is crucial that families follow the manufacturer’s instructions on how to make up baby’s formula feeds safely. We have adapted existing information for safe formula feeding on our Formula feeding | Parent Club website and are promoting this through our social media channels.
- Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 16 December 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Tom Arthur on 12 January 2023
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will commit to establishing a register of quarries.
Answer
The Scottish Government will give full consideration to the case for establishing a register of quarries as part of the work underway to develop plans for a devolved replacement for the UK Aggregates Levy.
- Asked by: Donald Cameron, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 14 December 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by George Adam on 12 January 2023
To ask the Scottish Government whether it has (a) allocated funding to and (b) spent money on establishing a presence on Meta’s so-called metaverse.
Answer
The Scottish Government has not allocated funding nor spent any money on this.
- Asked by: Colin Smyth, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 15 December 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 12 January 2023
To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to Transform Scotland’s report, Fair Fares – Rebuilding Scotland’s Public Transport through Accessible and Affordable Ticketing.
Answer
The Scottish Government is actively engaging with Transform Scotland, and other key stakeholders, as we progress our Fair Fares Review, which is being undertaken to ensure a sustainable and integrated approach to public transport fares. I thank Transform Scotland for their interest in this work and contribution via their report. Transport Scotland will consider its findings and recommendations as part of the Fair Fares Review.
In the meantime, we have announced as part of the Fair Fares Review, a pathfinder pilot project to remove peak fares from Scotrail services for a trial period. This is in addition to a range of actions already being taken to widen access and maintain the affordability of public transport.
- Up to 2.3 million people in Scotland are now able to access free bus travel through the scheme for older and disabled people and for those aged under 22.
- We are supporting the growth of smart and integrated ticketing and payment in Scotland, including funding the growth of contactless payments on buses, enhancing journey planning information, including on fares, and progressing measures in the Transport (Scotland) Act 2019 to improve consistency and integration.
- We have frozen rail fares until at least March 2023 and, likewise, we have intervened to hold fares in the northern isles ferry network at current levels until the end of March 2023.
- Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 15 December 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Shona Robison on 12 January 2023
To ask the Scottish Government whether any new legislation is being considered to help address Scotland-specific cladding issues, and, if this is the case, whether it will (a) incorporate elements from the Building Safety Act 2022 passed by the UK Parliament and (b) be primary or secondary legislation.
Answer
I have been clear that we will make full use of all of the powers available to us, including legislation if necessary, to find solutions for homeowners living in buildings with potentially unsafe cladding. This includes encouraging cooperation from developers. Specific proposals would be brought forward through a formal consultation process.
- Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Submitting member has a registered interest.
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Date lodged: Thursday, 15 December 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Shona Robison on 12 January 2023
To ask the Scottish Government what the median number of days a household spends in temporary accommodation is, broken down by household type.
Answer
Homelessness data, which includes information about temporary accommodation placements, is available for all local authorities from 2017-18. The following table shows the median total time in days spent in temporary accommodation for households with homelessness applications that closed in each year from 2017/18 by household type. The figures are based on homelessness applications with at least one associated temporary accommodation placement.
Median total time (days) spent in temporary accommodation, by household type: 2017-18 to 2021-22
Household type | 2017-18 | 2018-19 | 2019-20 | 2020-21 | 2021-22 |
All | 116 | 117 | 116 | 129 | 121 |
Single Person | 106 | 105 | 106 | 118 | 111 |
Single Parent | 134 | 139 | 134 | 160 | 146 |
Couple | 119 | 115 | 117 | 132 | 128 |
Couple with Children | 192 | 194 | 188 | 270 | 211 |
Other | 124 | 133 | 129 | 151 | 138 |
Other with Children | 166 | 172 | 162 | 190 | 171 |
Source: HL1 and HL3 dataset as at 18/08/2022
Notes on tables:
Figures may be based on the total duration of multiple temporary accommodation placements taken up by a household. A complete set of temporary accommodation placement data is not available prior to 2017-18. Figures refer to households with a homeless application that closed in the given year that took up temporary accommodation.
Information on household type is derived from the information on household type as at the time of the original homelessness application, and therefore may not reflect the actual composition of the household whilst in temporary accommodation. "Other" includes households with 2 adults that are not a couple or households with more than 2 adults.